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60-453: A festival to Diana was held yearly at her Shrine at Lake Nemi near Ariccia on the Ides of August, a date which coincides with the traditional founding date celebrated at Aricia. The origins of the festival probably pre-date the spread of Diana's worship to Rome in the 3rd century BCE, and may extend to the 6th century BCE or earlier. Records from the 1st century BCE describe worshipers traveling to

120-498: A commission appointed by the Greek government reported that a third of the villages of Greece should have their names changed, often because of their non-Greek origin. In other instances, names were changed from a contemporary name of Greek origin to the ancient Greek name. Some village names were formed from a Greek root word with a foreign suffix or vice versa. Most of the name changes took place in areas populated by ethnic Greeks in which

180-554: A horizontal bar behind their necks that connects them. Later die-cutters simplified the image. Alföldi interpreted the numismatic image as the Latin Diana "conceived as a threefold unity of the divine huntress, the Moon goddess, and the goddess of the nether world, Hekate ," noting that Diana montium custos nemoremque virgo ("keeper of the mountains and virgin of Nemi") is addressed by Horace as diva triformis ("three-form goddess"). Diana

240-444: A past Albanian Muslim population living amongst them. There are no monolingual Arvanitika-speakers, as all are today bilingual in Greek. However, while Arvanites are bilingual in Greek and Arvanitika, Arvanitika is considered an endangered language as it is in a state of attrition due to the large-scale language shift towards Greek among the descendants of Arvanitika-speakers in recent decades, becoming monolingual Greek speakers in

300-455: A quick rate, and proper colonies in the traditional sense were established in the form of predominantly Greek city-states ( πόλεις , póleis ). Extensive trade between mainland Greece and the Hellenistic portions of Anatolia was underway by the 8th to 7th centuries BCE, with fish, grain, timber, metal, and often slaves being exported from the land. It is believed that this kind of contact with

360-546: A slow rate from the 6th to 4th century. The Lydians had been particularly receptive to Greek culture, as were the 4th century dynasties of Caria and Lycia as well as the inhabitants of the Cilician plain and of the regions of Paphlagonia . The local population found their desires for advancement a stimulus to learn Greek. The indigenous urban settlements and villages in Anatolia coalesced, on their own initiative, to form cities in

420-472: A stratum of foreign or divergent toponyms had accumulated over the centuries. However, in some parts of northern Greece, the population was not Greek-speaking, and many of the former toponyms had reflected the diverse ethnic and linguistic origins of their inhabitants. The process of the change of toponyms in modern Greece has been described as a process of Hellenisation. A modern use is in connection with policies pursuing "cultural harmonization and education of

480-581: Is a lack of evidence from Hellenistic Syria; concerning this, most scholars view it as a case of "absence of evidence is not evidence of absence". The Bactrians , an Iranian ethnic group who lived in Bactria (northern Afghanistan ), were Hellenised during the reign of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom and soon after various tribes in northwestern regions of the Indian subcontinent underwent Hellenisation during

540-412: Is commonly addressed as Trivia by Virgil and Catullus. The votive offerings, none earlier than the fourth century BC, found in the grove of Aricia portray her as a huntress, and further as blessing men and women with offspring, and granting expectant mothers an easy delivery. The dedicatory inscription, long disappeared, was copied for its curiosity as testimony to the political union of Latin cities,

600-448: Is literary evidence from Philo about the extravagance of Alexandrian Jewish banquets, and The Letter of Aristeas discusses Jews dining with non-Jews as an opportunity to share Jewish wisdom. Pamphylia is a plain located between the highlands of Lycia and Cilicia . The exact date of Greek settlement in the region is not known; one possible theory is that settlers arrived in the region as part of Bronze Age maritime trade between

660-414: Is that every stranger who landed on the shore was sacrificed on her altar, but that, when transported to Italy, the rite of human sacrifice assumed a milder form. The temple of Diana Nemorensis was preceded by a sacred grove in which there stood a carved cult image . The temple was noted by Vitruvius as being archaic and " Etruscan " in its form. The cult image still stood as late as 43 BC, when it

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720-713: The Aegean , Levant and Cyprus , while another attributes it to population movements during the instability of the Bronze Age Collapse . The Greek dialect established in Pamphylia by the Classical period was related to Arcado-Cypriot . Mopsus is a legendary founder of several coastal cities in southwestern Anatolia, including Aspendos , Phaselis , Perge and Sillyon . A bilingual Phoenician and neo-Hittite Luwian inscription found at Karatepe , dated to 800 BC, says that

780-597: The Book of Acts (c. AD 80–90) to refer to clearly much more than language, though it is disputed what that may have entailed. By the 4th century BC, the process of Hellenization had started in southwestern Anatolia's Lycia , Caria and Pisidia regions. (1st century fortifications at Pelum in Galatia , on Baş Dağ in Lycaonia and at Isaura are the only known Hellenistic-style structures in central and eastern Anatolia ). When it

840-499: The Latin league by Cato the Elder and transmitted, perhaps incompletely, by the grammarian Priscianus : Lucum Dianium in nemore Aricino Egerius Baebius Tusculanus dedicavit dictator Latinus. hi populi communiter: Tusculanus, Aricinus, Lanuvinus, Laurens, Coranus, Tiburtis, Pometinus, Ardeatis Rutulus Diana Nemorensis was not translated to Republican Rome by the rite called evocatio , as

900-590: The Ptolemies from Dionysus . The Seuthopolis inscription was very influential in the modern study of Thrace . The inscription mentions Dionysus, Apollo and some Samothracian gods . Scholars have interpreted the inscription as evidence of Hellenisation in inland Thrace during the early Hellenistic, but this has been challenged by recent scholarship. However, Hellenization had its limitations. For example, areas of southern Syria that were affected by Greek culture mostly entailed Seleucid urban centres, where Greek

960-673: The Tauric Chersonesus (the Crimea ), fled with his sister Iphigenia to Italy, bringing with him the image of the Tauric Diana hidden in a mound of sticks. After his death, the myth has it, his bones were transported from Aricia to Rome and buried in front of the Temple of Saturn , on the Capitoline slope , beside the Temple of Concord . The bloody ritual which legend ascribed to the Tauric Diana

1020-665: The 1821 Tripolitsa Massacre of Muslim Albanians, while some Muslim Albanian speakers in the region of Bardounia remained after the war, converting to Orthodoxy. In recent times, Arvanites have expressed mixed opinions towards recent Albanian settlers within Greece. Other Arvanites during the late 1980s and early 1990s expressed solidarity with Albanian immigrants, due to linguistic similarities and being politically leftist. Relations too between Arvanites and other Orthodox Albanian-speaking communities such as those of Greek Epirus are mixed, as they are distrusted regarding religious matters due to

1080-538: The 1st century BC. Ionian , Aeolian and Doric settlers along Anatolia's Western coast seemed to have remained culturally Greek and some of their city-states date back to the Archaic Period . On the other hand, Greeks who settled in the southwestern region of Pisidia and Pamphylia seem to have been assimilated by the local culture. Panticapaeum (modern day Kerch ) was one of the early Greek colonies in Crimea . It

1140-511: The 1st century BCE, the Roman poet Ovid described the celebration: On this day, worshipers formed a procession of torches and candles around the waters of Lake Nemi (the name Nemi, from the Latin nemus, means a sacred wood or sacred grove), also known as Diana's Mirror. Hundreds join together at the lake, wearing wreaths of flowers. According to Plutarch , part of the ritual (before the procession around

1200-404: The 2nd century BC. Finds from the abandoned Hellenistic era settlement include imported and locally produced imitation Greek-style terracotta figurines and ceramics. Inscriptions show that some of the inhabitants had Greek names, while others had Anatolian or possibly Celtic names. Many Phrygian cult objects were Hellenised during the Hellenistic period, but worship of traditional deities like

1260-693: The 4th century BC this population quickly started to become Hellenised. Little is known about Pisidia prior to the 3rd century BC, but there is quite a bit of archeological evidence that dates to the Hellenistic period . Literary evidence, however, including inscriptions and coins are limited. During the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC, native regional tongues were abandoned in favour of koine Greek and settlements began to take on characteristics of Greek polis . The Iron Age Panemoteichos I may be an early precursor to later regional Hellenistic settlements including Selge , Termessos and Sagalassos (believed to be

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1320-490: The Arvanites. The common Orthodox Christian faith they shared with the rest of the local population was one of the main reasons that led to their assimilation. Other reasons for assimilation are large-scale internal migration to the cities and subsequent intermingling of the population. Although sociological studies of Arvanite communities still used to note an identifiable sense of a special "ethnic" identity among Arvanites,

1380-555: The Divine Nature; while the further assertion 'these three are One', which the modern mind finds paradoxical, was no more than commonplace to those familiar with Stoic notions. The Greek East was one of the two main cultural areas of the Roman Empire and began to be ruled by an autonomous imperial court in AD 286 under Diocletian . However, Rome remained the nominal capital of both parts of

1440-592: The Great were Hellenized. The first known use of a verb that means "to Hellenize" was in Greek (ἑλληνίζειν) and by Thucydides (5th century BC), who wrote that the Amphilochian Argives were Hellenised as to their language by the Ambraciots , which shows that the word perhaps already referred to more than language. The similar word Hellenism , which is often used as a synonym, is used in 2 Maccabees (c. 124 BC) and

1500-452: The Greek manner. The local kings of Asia Minor adopted Greek as their official language and sought to imitate other Greek cultural forms. The first properly Greek settlements in Anatolia originated shortly after the end of the Bronze age, around the 11th century BCE. Mycenaean settlements at Halicarnassus , Miletus , and Colophon existed before this, but Mycenaean colonization in the region

1560-573: The Hellenisation of Judaism in the pre-Christian Period (1980, German original 1976) and The 'Hellenisation' of Judaea in the First Century after Christ (1989, German original 1989), the tide began to turn decisively. Hengel argued that virtually all of Judaism was highly Hellenised well before the beginning of the Christian era, and even the Greek language was well known throughout the cities and even

1620-555: The Judaism of the diaspora was thought to have succumbed thoroughly to its influences. Bultmann thus argued that Christianity arose almost completely within those Hellenistic confines and should be read against that background, as opposed to a more traditional Jewish background. With the publication of Martin Hengel 's two-volume study Hellenism and Judaism (1974, German original 1972) and subsequent studies Jews, Greeks and Barbarians: Aspects of

1680-638: The Phrygian mother goddess persisted. Greek cults attested to include Hermes , Kybele , the Muses and Tyche . Greek art and culture reached Phoenicia by way of commerce before any Greek cities were founded in Syria. but Hellenisation of Syrians was not widespread until it became a Roman province . Under Roman rule in the 1st century BC there is evidence of Hellenistic style funerary architecture, decorative elements, mythological references, and inscriptions. However, there

1740-569: The authors did not identify or never identified a sense of 'belonging to Albania or to the Albanian nation'. Many Arvanites find the designation "Albanians" offensive as they identify nationally and ethnically as Greeks and not Albanians. Because of this, relations between Arvanites and other Albanian-speaking populations have diverged over time. During the onset of the Greek war of Independence, Arvanites fought alongside Greek revolutionaries against Muslim Albanians. For example, Arvanites participated in

1800-464: The contributions of Semitic-speaking and other Near Eastern cultures. The twentieth century witnessed a lively debate over the extent of Hellenisation in the Levant , particularly among the ancient Jews , which has continued until today. Interpretations on the rise of Early Christianity , which was applied most famously by Rudolf Bultmann , used to see Judaism as largely unaffected by Hellenism, and

1860-634: The diminution of the community of Corfiot Italians , which had lived in Corfu since the Middle Ages; by the 1940s, there were only 400 Corfiot Italians left. Arvanites are descendants of Albanian settlers who came to the present southern Greece in the late 13th and early 14th century. With participation in the Greek War of Independence and the Greek Civil War , this has led to increasing assimilation amongst

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1920-623: The doctrine of the Trinity, the ecclesiastical conception of Father, Word, and Spirit finds its germ in the different Stoic names of the Divine Unity. Thus Seneca , writing of the supreme Power which shapes the universe, states, 'This Power we sometimes call the All-ruling God, sometimes the incorporeal Wisdom, sometimes the holy Spirit, sometimes Destiny.' The Church had only to reject the last of these terms to arrive at its own acceptable definition of

1980-489: The early Catholic Church may have adapted not only the dates but the symbolism from the Nemoralia. It is possible that, as originally celebrated, the Nemoralia celebrated a descent of Diana into the underworld in search of Hippolytus or Virbius , followed by her ascent as queen of heaven and the full moon on the third day. Similar celebrations were recognized in the ancient world involving both Demeter and Isis , with whom Diana

2040-703: The empire, and Latin was the state language. When the Western Empire fell and the Roman Senate sent the regalia of the Western Emperor to the Eastern Emperor Zeno in AD 476, Constantinople ( Byzantium in Ancient Greek ) was recognised as the seat of the sole Emperor. A process of political Hellenisation began and led, among other reforms, to the declaration of Greek as the official language. In 1909,

2100-468: The exception of a runaway slave who was allowed, if he could, to break off one of the boughs. He was then in turn granted the privilege to engage the Rex Nemorensis , the current king and priest of Diana in the region, in one-on-one mortal combat. If the slave prevailed, he became the next king for as long as he could defeat challengers. By the time Caligula interfered in the succession of priest-kings,

2160-510: The festival, but observed it from the periphery as indicated in these words to his beloved: Requests and offerings to Diana may include small baked clay or bread statuettes of body parts in need of healing; small clay images of mother and child; tiny sculptures of stags; dance and song; and fruit such as apples. In addition, offerings of garlic are made to the Goddess of the Dark Moon, Hecate , during

2220-540: The festival. Hunting or killing of any beast is forbidden on Nemoralia. The three-day festival of Nemoralia corresponds to the Catholic feast days of Hippolytus of Rome (a supposed 3rd century CE martyr who shares a name with Hippolytus , a mythological figure heavily associated with Diana) on August 13, and the feast of Assumption of Mary on August 15. Scholars such as C.M. Green, James Frazer, and others have noted parallels between these feast days and have speculated that

2280-428: The garlanding of the dogs and polishing of the spears, that no hunting was allowed during the festival. The hunting dogs were particularly important symbols of the celebration. They symbolize Diana's guardianship of those in her care, and garlanded, they join in the celebration rather than in the hunt, so that no hunting can take place. This represents the protection of Diana being extended to all. Statius also emphasizes

2340-439: The importance of refuge to the worship of Diana, whose sanctuaries offered refuge to freed or escaped slaves, and in the myths of Hippolytus and Orestes , a refuge from murder, pollution, madness, and death. The 21st century historian C.M.C. Green noted that "bearing a torch in the procession to the shrine was to flee the thanatos -laden world and to take refuge in the eternal world of the sacred, cool, shady, and nurturing." In

2400-517: The kingdom's founding to 436 BC, when the Spartocid dynasty replaced the ruling Archaeanactids. The Hellenistic Seleucid and Ptolemaic kingdoms that formed after Alexander's death were particularly relevant to the history of Judaism . Located between the two kingdoms, Judea experienced long periods of warfare and instability. Judea fell under Seleucid control in 198 BC. By the time Antiochus IV Epiphanes became king of Judea in 175 BC, Jerusalem

2460-413: The lake) was the washing of hair and dressing it with flowers. It is a day of rest for women and slaves. Hounds are also honored and dressed with blossoms. Travelers between the north and south banks of the lake were carried in small boats lit by lanterns. Similar lamps were used by Vestal virgins and have been found with images of the goddess at Nemi. One 1st century CE poet, Propertius , did not attend

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2520-510: The linguistic minorities resident within the modern Greek state" - the Hellenisation of minority groups in modern Greece. The term Hellenisation (or Hellenization) is also used in the context of Greek opposition to the use of the Slavic dialects of Greece . In 1870, the Greek government abolished all Italian schools in the Ionian islands , which had been annexed to Greece six years earlier. That led to

2580-399: The murder-succession had devolved into a gladiatorial combat before an audience. Hellenization Hellenization is the adoption of Greek culture , religion , language , and identity by non-Greeks. In the ancient period , colonisation often led to the Hellenisation of indigenous peoples; in the Hellenistic period , many of the territories which were conquered by Alexander

2640-543: The rabbis, and elements that violated the halakha and midrash were prohibited. One example is the elimination of some aspects of Hellenistic banquets, such as the practice of offering libations to the gods, while incorporating certain elements that gave the meals a more Jewish character. Discussion of Scripture , the singing of sacred songs and attendance of students of the Torah were encouraged. One detailed account of Jewish-style Hellenistic banquets comes from Ben Sira . There

2700-489: The reconstruction of the Temple of Artemis, to which he offered a large number of marble columns as dedication to the goddess. It was in the towns that Hellenisation made its greatest progress, with the process often being synonymous with urbanisation. Hellenisation reached Pisidia and Lycia sometime in the 4th century BC, but the interior remained largely unaffected for several more centuries until it came under Roman rule in

2760-642: The reign of the Indo-Greek Kingdom . The periodisation of the Hellenistic Age , between the conquests of Alexander the Great up to Octavian ' s victory at the Battle of Actium , has been attributed to the 19th-century historian J. G. Droysen . According to this model the spread of Greek culture during this period made the rise of Christianity possible. Later, in the 20th century, scholars questioned this 19th-century paradigm for failing to account for

2820-552: The ruling dynasty there traced their origins to Mopsus. Mopsus, whose name is also attested to in Hittite documents, may originally have been an Anatolian figure that became part of the cultural traditions of Pamphylia's early Greek settlers. Attested to in Linear B texts, he is given a Greek genealogy as a descendant of Manto and Apollo . For centuries the indigenous population exerted considerable influence on Greek settlers, but after

2880-591: The sanctuary carrying torches and garlands. Diana's festival eventually became widely celebrated throughout Italy, including at the Temple of Diana on the Aventine Hill in Rome, which was unusual given the provincial nature of Diana's cult. The 1st century CE poet Statius wrote of the festival: Statius celebrated the triple nature of the goddess by invoking heavenly (the dog-star Sirius ), earthly (the grove itself) and underworld ( Hecatean ) imagery. He also suggested, by

2940-481: The smaller towns of Jewish Palestine. Scholars have continued to nuance Hengel's views, but almost all believe that strong Hellenistic influences were throughout the Levant, even among the conservative Jewish communities, which were the most nationalistic. In his introduction to the 1964 book Meditations , Anglican priest Maxwell Staniforth discussed the profound influence of Stoic philosophy on Christianity: Again in

3000-481: The spread of Hellenistic culture, religion, and ideas in Anatolia was a peaceful process. Worship of the Greek pantheon of gods was practiced in Lydia. Lydian king Croesus often invited the wisest Greek philosophers, orators and statesmen to attend his court. Croesus himself often consulted the famous oracle at Delphi-bestowing many gifts and offerings to this and other religious sites for example. He provided patronage for

3060-633: The three most prominent cities of Hellenistic Pisidia). The site is evidence of "urban organisation" that predates the Greek polis by 500 years. Based on Panemoteichos I and other Iron Age sites, including the Phrygian Midas şehri and the Cappadocian fortification of Kerkenes , experts believe that "behind the Greek influence that shaped the Hellenistic Pisidian communities there lay a tangible and important Anatolian tradition." According to

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3120-405: The writings of Arrian the population of Side , who traced their origins to Aeolian Cyme , had forgotten the Greek language by the time Alexander arrived at the city in 334 BC. There are coins and stone inscriptions that attest to a unique script from the region but the language has only been partially deciphered. The latest dateable coins found at the Phrygian capital of Gordion are from

3180-658: Was advantageous to do so, places like Side and Aspendos invented Greek-themed origin myths; an inscription published in SEG shows that in the 4th century BC Aspendos claimed ties to Argos , similar to Nikokreon of Cyprus who also claimed Argive lineage. (Argos was home to the Kings of Macedon .) Like the Argeads , the Antigonids claimed descent from Heracles , the Seleucids from Apollo , and

3240-574: Was already somewhat Hellenized. In 170 BC, both claimants to the High Priesthood, Jason and Menelaus , bore Greek names. Jason had established institutions of Greek education and in later years Jewish culture started to be suppressed including forbidding circumcision and observance of the Sabbath . Hellenization of members of the Jewish elite included names and clothes, but other customs were adapted by

3300-648: Was commonly spoken. The countryside, on the other hand, was largely unaffected, with most of its inhabitants speaking Syriac and clinging to their native traditions. By itself, archaeological evidence only gives researchers an incomplete picture of Hellenization; it is often not possible to state with certainty whether particular archaeological findings belonged to Greeks, Hellenized indigenous peoples, indigenous people who simply owned Greek-style objects or some combination of these groups. Thus, literary sources are also used to help researchers interpret archaeological findings. Greek cultural influence spread into Anatolia in

3360-587: Was founded by Miletus around 600 BC on a site with good terrain for a defensive acropolis . By the time the Cimmerian colonies had organised into the Bosporan Kingdom much of the local native population had been Hellenized. Most scholars date the establishment of the kingdom to 480 BC, when the Archaeanactid dynasty assumed control of Panticapaeum, but classical archaeologist Gocha R. Tsetskhladze has dated

3420-519: Was often identified. Diana Nemorensis Diana Nemorensis ("Diana of Nemi"), also known as " Diana of the Wood", was an Italic form of the goddess who became Hellenised during the fourth century BC and conflated with Artemis . Her sanctuary is on the northern shore of Lake Nemi beneath the rim of the crater and the modern city Nemi . The worship of Diana at Nemi was supposedly instituted by Orestes , who, after killing Thoas , king in

3480-474: Was performed for Juno of Veii , but remained a foreigner there, in a temple outside the pomerium , apparently on the Aventine . A votive inscription of the time of Nerva indicates that Vesta , Roman goddess of the hearth, home, and family, was also venerated in the grove at Nemi. Legend tells of a tree that stands in the centre of the grove and is guarded heavily. No one was to break off its limbs, with

3540-439: Was reflected in coinage. The Italic type of the triform cult image of Diana Nemorensis was reconstructed by Alföldi from a sequence of later Republican period coins he connected with a gens from Aricia . In early examples the three goddesses stand before a sketchily indicated wood, the central goddess placing her right hand on the shoulder of one goddess and her left on the hip of the other. The three are shown to be one by

3600-530: Was sporadic at best and not on the same scale as the later Greek colonization of Anatolia. These initial posts in the 2nd millenium BCE, however, were less colonies in the traditional sense and more akin to the factories of the Age of Discovery ; that is, that they were trading posts initially established to conduct trade with Anatolian locals. By the beginning of the Archaic period , settlement of Anatolia had begun to grow at

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